Hormuzdi Sheriar G, Filippov Mikhail A, Mitropoulou Georgia, Monyer Hannah, Bruzzone Roberto
Department of Clinical Neurobiology, Interdisciplinary Center for Neurosciences, University of Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
Biochim Biophys Acta. 2004 Mar 23;1662(1-2):113-37. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2003.10.023.
Gap junctions consist of intercellular channels dedicated to providing a direct pathway for ionic and biochemical communication between contacting cells. After an initial burst of publications describing electrical coupling in the brain, gap junctions progressively became less fashionable among neurobiologists, as the consensus was that this form of synaptic transmission would play a minimal role in shaping neuronal activity in higher vertebrates. Several new findings over the last decade (e.g. the implication of connexins in genetic diseases of the nervous system, in processing sensory information and in synchronizing the activity of neuronal networks) have brought gap junctions back into the spotlight. The appearance of gap junctional coupling in the nervous system is developmentally regulated, restricted to distinct cell types and persists after the establishment of chemical synapses, thus suggesting that this form of cell-cell signaling may be functionally interrelated with, rather than alternative to chemical transmission. This review focuses on gap junctions between neurons and summarizes the available data, derived from molecular, biological, electrophysiological, and genetic approaches, that are contributing to a new appreciation of their role in brain function.
缝隙连接由细胞间通道组成，这些通道专门为相互接触的细胞之间的离子和生化通讯提供直接途径。在最初大量发表描述大脑中电耦合的文章之后，缝隙连接在神经生物学家中逐渐不再流行，因为人们普遍认为这种形式的突触传递在塑造高等脊椎动物的神经元活动中作用极小。在过去十年中，一些新的发现（例如连接蛋白与神经系统遗传疾病、感觉信息处理以及神经元网络活动同步化的关联）使缝隙连接重新成为焦点。神经系统中缝隙连接耦合的出现受到发育调控，局限于特定的细胞类型，并且在化学突触建立后依然存在，因此表明这种细胞间信号传导形式可能在功能上与化学传递相互关联，而非化学传递的替代方式。这篇综述聚焦于神经元之间的缝隙连接，并总结了从分子、生物学、电生理和遗传学方法中获得的现有数据，这些数据有助于重新认识它们在脑功能中的作用。
